Todd Richards | Center

Latest News

Recent News

Todd Richards will join the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant coach.

Richards will bring with him plenty of head coaching experience. He has a 204-183-37 record as a bench boss with Minnesota and Columbus. His stint with the Blue Jackets ended after they got off to a 0-7-0 start in 2015-16. He's replacing Steve Thomas, whose contract wasn't renewed. Tue, Jun 7, 2016 11:32:00 AM

Richards has a 204-183-37 record as a bench boss between his stints with Minnesota and Columbus. His time with the Blue Jackets ended earlier this season after Columbus got off to a 0-7-0 start. Thu, May 19, 2016 08:49:00 AM

He was let go Wednesday morning after Columbus was defeated by the Islanders by a a score of 4-0 on Tuesday night. That dropped the team's record to 0-7-0. The Jackets entered the year with high expectations and they will try to pick themselves up with a new coach. Richards will be replaced by John Tortorella, who has not coached since he was fired by the Vancouver Canucks after the 2013-14 season. Wed, Oct 21, 2015 09:42:00 AM

The Columbus Blue Jackets' 0-7-0 start has matched the modern day record for the worst opening to a season.

The Blue Jackets will have that dubious distinction all to themselves if they lose to Minnesota on Thursday. It's still very early in the season, but it will be challenging for Columbus to dig itself out of this hole. The Blue Jackets entered this season with such promise, but it's already looking like a disaster. Wed, Oct 21, 2015 08:42:00 AM

Depth Charts

Steven Stamkos registered his first goal since Nov. 15, 2016 in Thursday's 5-4 win over Pittsburgh.

Stamkos suffered a season-ending knee injury in that contest last November, but he is healthy again and ready to rebound. "I knew it was a matter of time," Stamkos said. "I wasn't losing sleep over it. I'm just happy to be playing hockey again, to be part of some wins here." He has six points in four games this campaign.

Alex Killorn registered four assists in Thursday's 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Killorn helped set up goals by Victor Hedman, Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Slater Koekkoek (second of the game). Two of Killorn's four assists came on the man-advantage. He finished the game with a plus-1 rating, three shots on goal and one hit in 19:32 of ice time. The winger has now picked up at least one point in three of Tampa's four games this season. Killorn is up to one goal and six assists in 2017-18. He tends to get off to good starts, but his fantasy appeal is minimal at best.

Vladislav Namestnikov was back with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov in Thursday's preseason loss to Florida.

Namestnikov scored a goal in the 5-2 defeat. He played with Stamkos and Kucherov at the beginning of the 2016-17 campaign and could start there again this season. However, you shouldn't big numbers offensively from him. Namestnikov could be worth picking up if he heats up as a top-line forward, but his past issues with consistency could make his stay on your roster brief.

Chris Kunitz potted his first goal with the Lightning on Monday night.

Kunitz, who signed with Tampa Bay in the summer on a one-year deal, scored late in the second period in Tampa Bay's come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win over Washington. Kunitz made it 3-2 heading into the third and played well all game alongside Cedric Paquette and Ryan Callahan.

Nikita Kucherov is the first Tampa Bay player to ever open a season by finding the back of the net in five straight contests.

Kucherov's goal on Saturday also proved to be the game winner against St. Louis. He's recorded three assists this season in addition to his five goals. His hot start has been overshadowed by Washington's Alex Ovechkin, who has an amazing nine goals in six contests, but it wouldn't be surprising to see Kucherov be a serious contender for the Rocket Richard Trophy throughout the campaign. He had 40 goals last season and the 24-year-old might be able to build on that.

Point didn't take part in the morning skate for "body maintenance," but coach Jon Cooper expects him to play against Detroit. He is listed as a game-time decision. It looks like you can keep Point active even though he may be feeling a bit under the weather.

Ryan Callahan left Saturday's game after blocking a shot, but Lightning coach Jon Cooper said it was just for precautionary reasons.

We'll have to wait to see if there's anything more there, but Callahan is still tentatively projected to be available for the regular season opener. He played in just 18 games last season due to a hip injury, but that seems to be behind him so it would be particularly unfortunate if an unrelated incident forced him to start the campaign on the sidelines.

Sergachev had a plus-one rating, two penalty minutes, and four shots in 16:03 minutes of ice time in his season debut. He was originally taken with the ninth overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft by Montreal, but was dealt to Tampa Bay as part of the Jonathan Drouin trade. "He exceeded our expectations," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "He didn't shy away; he played with confidence. You want to have guys back there that do that."

Jake Dotchin will be a healthy scratch in the Lightning's season opener on Friday.

That comes as something of a surprise because he had been practicing on a pairing with Victor Hedman lately. Hedman's defensive partner will instead be Dan Girardi. As for why Dotchin is being scratched, no specific reason was given beyond simple numbers. "You have 23 guys, 20 get to play," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "You've probably heard this answer - it's monotonous - but not everyone is going to play every single night. When your name is called, you've just got to be ready to help us win and that's it." Dotchin had 11 assists and 35 penalty minutes in 35 games with Tampa Bay last season.

It's an amusing, but purely coincidental set of circumstances. Girardi was naturally looking for a place to buy in Tampa and showed one he was interested in to Ryan Callahan, who's another former New York Rangers player that's now part of the Lightning. "Um, I'm pretty sure that's the GM's house," Callahan replied. Girardi and Yzerman, who had already moved into a new place, didn't have much in the way of interaction over the sale as it was handled through their agents. Still, it can't hurt to have bought the boss' house. It's also a nice aside as Yzerman was a big part of the reason why Girardi chose Tampa Bay as the GM personally called him to make the pitch.

Koekkoek opened the scoring in the contest with his first career goal and he scored what became the game winner late in the second stanza. He made his season debut on Monday against Washington, but only logged 3:09 of ice time. Koekkoek certainly made the most of his 9:44 of action on Thursday.

Vasilevskiy was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate, so he is expected to make his sixth straight start. He has a 4-1-0 record this season with a 3.20 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.

Peter Budaj has reportedly inked a two-year, $2.05 million extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Budaj started the 2016-17 campaign in the minors, but he soon found himself as the Kings' starting goaltender after the Kings lost Jonathan Quick. Quick missed most of the season, but Los Angeles traded Budaj to Tampa Bay on Feb. 26. Between the two teams, Budaj posted a 2.18 GAA and .915 save percentage in 60 contests. The Lightning will be looking at him as a backup, but given that Andrei Vasilevskiy is still fairly young, Budaj might end up with a fair amount of playing time in that role.